Gas-engine.



Patented Oct. 22, I90l. W. S.v HALSEY.

G A S E N GIN E.

(Application filed Oct. 9, 1900.)

2 Sheets-Sheet I.

(No Model.)

WITNESSES:

Patented Oct. 22, l90l. W. S. HALSEY.

GAS ENGINE (Application filed Oct. 9, 1900.)

2 Sheets-$heet 2.

(No Model.)

1 \\\\\\\\\\\\Im w UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM suA Lsnv, or PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

GAS-ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming of Letters Patent No; 684,813, dated October 22, 1901. Application filed October 9, 1900. Serial No. 32,472. (No model.)

To ctZZ whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, WILLIAM S. HALSEY, of Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Gas-Engines, of which improvement the following is a specification.

My present invention is an improvement upon that for which Letters Patent of the United States No. 659,027 were granted and issued to me under date of October 2, 1900; and its object is to provide an internal-combustion motor which shall embody the structural and operative advantages of that set forth in said Letters Patent and shall, further, enable a higher degree of efficiency of the combustible medium to be attained.

To this end my invention, generally stated, consists in the combination of a cylinder having a solid or imperforate Wall between its end ports, a heat-absorber at and adjacent to the firing end of the cylinder, a piston working in the cylinder, an ad mission-valve controlling the supply of air to the suction end of the cylinder, means for delivering a combustible medium into the firing end of the cylinder, an independent exhaust-valve controlling the discharge of products of combustion from the cylinder, and asupply-valve controlling a passage through the piston for the traverse of air from the suction side thereof to the firing or pressure side.

The improvement claimed is hereinafter fully set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side view in elevation of a gas-engine'embodying my invention with the cylinder and valve-casings in section on the line (la of Fig. 3; Fig. 2, a view in elevation as seen from the opposite side; Fig. 3, a vertical transverse section through the cylinder and exhaust-valve casing on the line b b of Fig. 1; and Fig. 4, a vertical longitudinal section, on an enlarged scale, through the gasifying-liquid pump.

In the practice of my invention I provide a suitable frame or bed-plate 1, u pon one end of which a main or crank shaft 2 is supported in hearings" in the ordinary manner and to the other end of which is secured a cylinder 3. The shell or wall of the cylinder is, as in myLetters PatentNo. 659,027 aforesaid, solid or imperforate between the admission and exhaust ports at its opposite ends, hereinafter specified, and it is closed at its firingor pres} sure end,which is that farthest from the crank shaft, by a removable head 5 and at its opposite or suction end by a head 6, which may be formed integral with the bed-plate l, as indicated in Fig. 1. The shell or wall of the cylinder is provided at and adjoining the fir ing end thereofas, say, for one-third or onefourth of its length therefrom-with a heat absorber 4, which surrounds the cylinder and is preferably, as shown, in the form of a comparatively thick annular body of metal cast integral therewith. Any other suitable known means for absorbing and retaining heat generated in the cylinder may, however, be substituted without departure from the spirit of my invention, and the heat-absorber t may, if preferred, be connected detachably to the cylinder. The remainder of the length of the cylinder is provided with a suitable device for abstracting heat therefrom, this be ing in the instance shown a water-jacket 4,

which is preferably employed in the larger sizes of engines. tion of the cylinder may be merely left exposed to the atmosphere or be provided with peripheral ribs for promoting cooling action by the exposure of larger surfaces to the atmosphere.

A piston 7, secured upon a piston-rod 8, is fitted to traverse longitudinally in the cylinder 3. The piston is made of such length that when at the extremity of its stroke, which is farthest from the crank-shaft, it will ocfitting and lubrication would not be practi-- cable. The remainder of the length of the In small engines this por- I IOO piston fits neatly in the bore of the cylinder and is provided with suitable packing-rings in the ordinary manner. The outer end of the piston-rod is secured to a cross-head 9,

traversing on guides on the bed-plate and carrying a pin 11, which is coupled by a connecting-rod 12 to a crank-pin 13 on a crank disk or arm 14, fixed upon the crank-shaft 2.

An air-admission-valve casing 15 is formed upon or connected to the cylinder 3 at its end adjacent to the crank-shaft, said casing communicating with the cylinder by an air-admission port 16, controlled by an inwardly opening air-admission valve 22, which may, if desired, be provided with a spring, by which it is normally held to its seat. An exhaust-valve casing 17 is secured to the cylin der adjacent to its opposite or firing end and communicates with the cylinder by an exhaust-port 18. A lateral nozzle or passage 26 for the connection of an exhaust-pipe leading to a desired point of discharge is formed upon the side of the exhaust-valve casing 17, and communication between said passage and the exhaust-port 18 is controlled by an upwardly-opening exhaust-Valve 27, fixed upon a stem 28.

Any suitable and preferred means of actuating the exhaust-valve through connections with the crank-shaft may be employed, and such actuating mechanism does not in and of itself form part of my present invention. In the instance shown, as in my Letters Patent No. 659,027 aforesaid, the outer end of the exhaust-valve stem 28 carries a pin 29, which fits in a cam-groove 30, formed in a bar 31, which is fitted to traverse longitudinally in a guide 32 on the outer end of the valve-casing 17. The bar 31 is coupled to one end of a doublearmed rocking lever 33, which is centrally pivoted on the cylindershell or the water-jacket 4, as the case may be, and the opposite end of the rocking lever is coupled to an eccentric-rod 34, which is secured to the strap 35 of an eccentric 36, fixed upon the crank-shaft 2.

A combustible medium, as gas or any suitable gasifying liquid, is delivered to the cylinder 3 through a valve-controlled supplypipe 4:8,leading thereinto atthe firing or pressure end thereof,said pipe being, when a gasifying liquid is employed, the delivery-pipe of a pump actuated by connections with the crank shaft 2. In the instance shown a pump 42 is supported adjacent to the firing end of the cylinder 3, its plunger 43 having a slot at its outer end to receive a pin, by which it is coupled to the eccentric-rod 34, through which reciprocating movement is imparted to the plunger. The pump communicates with a suitable source of liquid-supply by a suction-pipe 47, controlled by a suctionvalve 45, and a delivery-valve 46 controls communication between the pump and the delivery-pipe 48 in the usual manner.

As in Letters Patent No. 659,027 aforesaid, a through-passage 39 is formed in the piston 7 and is governed by a supply-valve 37, which opens toward the firing end of the cylinder and is normally held seated by a spring 38. A fly-wheel is secured upon the crankshaft 2, and for preliminary operation the engine may be provided with any suitable igniting device--as, for example, an ignitingtube .t1--1ocated in position to fire a charge in the firing or pressure end of the cylinder.

In the operation of a motor embodying my invention the movement of the piston 7 to the left, which is effected by the momentum of the fly-wheel 40, draws in air to the suction end of the cylinder through the passage controlled by the air-admission valve 22, and a combustion medium, as gas or a gasifying liquid, is supplied through the delivery-pipe 48 to the firing end of the cylinder. Assuming a charge of a mixture of compressed air and a combustible medium to have been previously supplied to the clearance-space on the left-hand or firing side of the piston, as presently to be described, such charge is ignited and exploded (initially by the igniter, and after a few strokes have been made by the heat of the cylinder-wall at the firing end) and the resultant expansion of the charge efiects the working or right-hand stroke of the piston, which through its connections correspondingly rotates the crankshaft 2 and fiy-wheel 40. In making its working stroke the piston initially compresses the air which has previously been admitted to the cylinder on the right-hand orsuction side of the piston until the pressure of the air becomes equalized with that of the products of combustion on the firing or pressure side of the piston, whereupon the supply-valve 37 is unseated and the air in the cylinder on the suction side of the piston passes through the passage 39 therein to the firing side thereof. At or about the period of such equalization the exhaust-valve 27 is unseated through its connections with the eccentric 36 and the burned gases are expelled through the exhaust-port 18 and passage 26 by the compressed air which has entered through the passage 39, after which the exhaust-valve is closed and the combustible medium admitted through the delivery-pipe 48 just as the piston starts on its working stroke, previous to which the cylinder has been thoroughly cleared of burned gases. It will be seen that as the supplyvalve 37 opens or unseats automatically when the pressures on opposite sides of the piston become equalized the remainder of the working or right-hand stroke of the piston is effected without back pressure. At the commencement of the working stroke and from the time the pressure exerted on the piston is acting on a dead-center until the connectingrod and crank-pin are at an angle at which the pressure will be efiectively exerted to rotate the shaft the heat is retained in the gases by the hot wall of the cylinder and the surrounding heat-absorber, and throughout the remaining portion of the stroke the cylinder wall and the contained products of acacia combustion are cooled by direct conduction or by the water-jacket, as the case may be. During the working stroke of the piston the air-admission valve 22 is closed by the pressure on its upper side and no further admission of combustible medium after that initially made is eifected. During the succeeding left-hand or compression and suction stroke of the piston the initially-compressed charge of air which has been supplied to the firing or pressure side of the piston during the preceding working stroke is further and finally compressed on that side of the piston until the piston reaches the left-hand limit of its traverse, when the combustible medium is admitted, the charge ignited, and another working stroke of the piston effected.

My invention presents in practice the substant-ial advantages of effectively utilizing the combustible medium employed, of obviating liability to premature explosion, which would retard or reverse the desired movement of the piston, of relieving the piston from objectionable back pressure during its Working stroke, and of fully and effectually discharging the burned gases and residuum of combustion from the cylinder after each working stroke.

I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In an internal-combustion motor, the combination of a cylinder having a solid or imperforate wall between its end ports, a heatabsorber at and adjacent to the firing end of the cylinder, a piston working in the cylinder, an admission-valve controlling the supply of air to the suction end of the cylinder, means for delivering a combustible medium into the firing end of the cylinder, an independent exhaust -valve controlling the discharge of products of combustion from the cylinder, and a supply-valve controlling a passage through the piston for the traverse of air from the suction side thereof to the firing or pressure side.

2.:[1'1 an internal-combustion motor, the combination of a cylinder having a solid or imperforate wall between its end ports, a heat absorber at and adjacent to the firing end of the cylinder, a piston which is reduced in diameter, so as to be out of contact with the cylinder-wall, for a portion of its length from its firing side substantially equal to the length of the heat-absorber, and which, for the remainder of its length, fits neatly in the cylinder, an admission-valve controlling the supply of air to the suction end of the cylinder, means for delivering a combustible medium into the firing end of the cylinder, an independent eXhaust-valve controlling the discharge of products of combustion from the cylinder, and a supply-valve controlling a passage through the piston for the traverse of air from the suction side thereof to the firing or pressure side.

3. In an internal-combustion motor, the combination of a cylinder having an air-ad mission port at its suction end and an exhaust-port at its firing end and havingits wall solid or imperforate between said ports, a heat-absorber at and adjacent to the firing end of the cylinder, a piston working in the cylinder, a crank-shaft and fly-wheel connected to and rotatable by the piston, an automatically-operating valve controlling the airadmission port, means for delivering a combustible medium into the firing end of the cylinder, means, actuated from the crank-shaft, for releasing products of combustion from the eXhaust-port,and an automatically-operating supply-valve controlling a passage through the piston and aifording a traverse forair from the suction to the firing side thereof, coincidently with the release of the products of combustion from the firing side.

4:- In an internal-combustion motor, the combination of a cylinder having an air-admission port at its suction end and an eX- haust-port at its firing end and having its wall solid or imperforate between said ports, a heat-absorber at and adjacent to the firing end of the cylinder, a piston working in the cylinder, a crank-shaft and fly-wheel con nected to and rotatable by the piston, an auto matically-operating valve controlling the airadmission port,- means, actuated from the crank-shaft, for delivering a combustible medium into the firing end of the cylinder, meai1s,'actuated from the crank-shaft, for releasing products of combustion from the exhaust-port, and an automatically-operating supply-valve controlling a passage through the piston and affording a traverse for air from the suction to the firing side thereof,

'coincidently with the release of the products of combustion from the firing side.

5. In an internal-combustion motor, the combination of a cylinder having a solid or imperforate wall between its end ports, aheatabsorber at and adjacent to the firing end of the cylinder, a piston working in the cylinder, an admission-valve controlling the supply of air to the suction end of the cylinder, a pump, actuated through connections with a crank-shaft rotated by the piston, for delivering a combustible medium into the firing end of the cylinder, an independent exhaustvalve controlling the discharge of products of combustion from the cylinder, and a supply-valve controlling a passage through the piston for the traverse of air from the suction side thereof to the firing or pressure side.

. WILLIAM S. HALSEY.

Witnesses:

J. SNO'WDEN BELL, CLARENCE A. WILLIAMS. 

